Chapter 4
Vincent Parker had been dead for eighteen months.
That should have made the warning feel irrelevant.
It did not.
William remembered his father too well.
Vincent loved control more than he loved people and called the difference leadership. Elena had been the only person in the family who challenged him openly.
Then she married Daniel.
Vincent never forgave her.
William looked at Emma.
“Who gave you this note?”
“Aunt Rachel.”
“Where is she?”
Emma stopped chewing.
The silence answered before the child did.
“She told me to take Noah and leave.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
William leaned forward.
“Why?”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“Men came.”
His expression changed.
“What men?”
“One was Victor.”
William went still.
The private dining room became very quiet.
Emma continued.
“Uncle Damian too.”
There it was.
Victor had not merely known Elena years ago.
He was still hunting the people connected to her.
“What happened to Rachel?”
Emma’s breathing turned uneven.
“She pushed us out the laundry door.”
“And?”
“She said run.”
“Did you hear anything after?”
Emma nodded.
“What?”
“A crash.”
William closed his eyes briefly.
Then Noah started crying.
Emma immediately stood and bounced him gently, whispering, “Shh, shh, I got you.”
William watched her.
Five years old.
Already carrying responsibility like an adult because every adult around her had failed.
He stood too.
“Emma.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t have to protect Noah alone anymore.”
She stared at him like she did not understand the sentence.
That hurt more than anything Victor had done outside.
A knock came at the door.
One of William’s bodyguards entered.
“We checked Victor’s car.”
William turned.
“And?”
The guard held up a child’s pink hair ribbon.
Emma gasped.
“Aunt Rachel’s.”
William’s face hardened.
Then the guard added:
“There was blood on the passenger door.”
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Victor had arrived at Laurent’s already carrying evidence of whatever happened before Emma reached the restaurant.
And he had still smiled while threatening to throw two children into the rain.
